Icod of the Wines works to enhance its development and tourist attraction through nNew technologies such as augmented virtual realitywhich already allows us to know first-hand the origin of one of the main local traditions: the dragging of the wooden boards. Saint Andrew. The mayor Francis gonzalez (DC), highlights the good reception it has had at the International Tourism Fair (Fitur), held in Madrid, this commitment to show visitors where the custom of sliding on boards down the steepest streets of the municipality comes from.
Last year virtual reality was released that allows anyone Live the experience of crawling down a street in Icod. «After showing the most spectacular of San Andrés, this year we are committed to spreading the origin of our most beloved tradition. A historical component that was what we wanted to highlight this year, through an application. An answer is given to the question of why we crawl in Icod. There are different theories, the one about the transfer of wood from the mountains to the beach of San Marcos, where boats were built, and the one referring to our relationship with Portugal. In Madeira, in the city of Funchal, there is a similar tradition that is the carts. It is about transport instruments that are related to wine, since it would be about taking the barrel to the beach to wash it on the beach. The investigation into the origins of the Icod tables is still open and we have committed to delving further”, González advances.
Magic Town of Spain 2023
The Icodense delegation in Fitur also had the opportunity to pick up the Prize to the Magical Town of Spain 2023. «Last year we joined this network and, almost completing the year of permanence, they gave us the news. This award recognizes our authenticity and all the activity we carry out, even in times of a pandemic”, stresses Francis González. In his opinion, “the Icod brand has to do with tourism, commerce and culture, which has also allowed us to receive the Prensa Ibérica award for Cultural Town of the Year in Canary Islands».
The mayor explains that the tourist development of Icod de los Vinos can continue advancing, as it is a destination that offers everything: «Culture, commerce, oenology, gastronomy, nature, history, traditions… A lively, happy town, where to feel comfortable”. For González, «Icod has so much to offer that I would define it as an iceberg, of which the tip is its dragon tree, although it has much more. Four emblematic hotels, many beds for rural tourism, holiday homes, a powerful restoration, a very important trade, many traditions, sea and summit, the largest forest mass, the largest labyrinthine complex volcanic tube in the world, historical and religious heritage… Everything which makes it a blessed people.”
“We grow in visits”
«We are well known for the dragon tree, the natural emblem of Canary Islands, but our insistence is focused on showing everything else, also with new routes that are finding good reception among travel operators. We grow in visits and that is demonstrated with a piece of information: 34% more visitors entered the Drago Park in 2022. And these latest acknowledgments also attract more visitors, who will see us through numerous media, “stresses the president.
For González, “if San Marcos beach is the jewel in the crown, Riquel is the diamond in the rough”
Looking to the future, Francis González advances that Work is already underway to create a route through the town that, through different elements, accessible with QR codes, allows the visitor “to know while walking what is happening in each street during San Andrés, discover El Calvario, Hércules street or San Antonio, through a route that also it’s commercial. Or discover what the city was like in the past, before the great fire at the end of the 18th century, what was there before Andrés Lorenzo Cáceres square, the disappeared buildings through augmented virtual reality».
Icod works to offer tours for certain periods, “that transport people to other historical moments.” In parallel, the private initiative is advancing with the implementation of another emblematic hotel project, very close to the dragon tree, in addition to rural tourism houses and vacation homes. In the medium or long term, Icod does not give up Riquel either. «I hope that February can bring us the possibility of approving the new General Planning Plan (PGO) and, from there, trying to move forward to end the limitations that the PIOT places on us in that area, also due to the lack of involvement of the supramunicipal institutions”, laments the mayor of Icodense.
Sustainable development
“We want recover the environment in the Riquel area, but we think that it should also have a possibility of sustainable tourism development. If San Marcos beach is the jewel in the crown, Riquel is the diamond in the rough. So we are going to fight there too, although we first need the approval of the aforementioned PGO. We have not thrown away the urban agreement that we worked on in its day, and soon we hope to be able to present an important business initiative to provide San Marcos Beach with hotel beds, between 15 and 20 rooms, and a parking area. The regeneration of this cove is still pending the completion of the last steps for the implementation of a project approved by Costas in 2021, after the popular consultation carried out by the City Council made it clear that 90% of the residents want it to be recover with natural sand.
Boquin Farm
Other projects of great interest are the completion of the Drago Park Interpretation Center or the recovery of Finca Boquín, «which has to be the continuity of the Parque del Drago and cannot continue to be abandoned. It is not ours and we cannot work there. We want to convince them that these 170,000 square metres, with houses that can be exploited even for tourism or for training purposes for the new generations, with a nature classroom”. The Ciudad del Drago City Council insists that the possibility of “extending the area that can be visited in Cueva del Viento be analyzed and in improving the visitor center of this largest labyrinthine complex volcanic tube in the world, with 17 kilometers of topography, which cannot be remain forever within 200 visitable meters”.
The number of visits received by Parque del Drago grew by 34 percent last year
The City Council of Icod de los Vinos and the Cabildo de Tenerife negotiate the acquisition, by the island institution, of the entire building that currently houses the small visitor center of the Cueva del Viento, with the intention of expanding and improving it. At the same time, the Consistory must be given the opportunity to acquire or build a new property to relocate the cultural center that currently occupies the upper floor of that building. González emphasizes that “we believe in the need for the Cabildo to carry out the Special Plan for the Cueva del Viento, in order to continue advancing in the cleaning and exploitation of this unique underground space.”
three million euros
One of the great hopes for the municipality is the completion of the Drago Park Visitors Center “also below ground”, for which financing is already available and the bidding process is underway. In this property, endowed with great possibilities, they want to install elevators and conclude their services. This is the first phase, but González urges the public administrations to put “an economic game from now, of almost 3 million euros, to endow this interpretation center as a museum”, which they want to expand to other attractions in Icod de los Wines. With so many open fronts in tourism development, the mayor remarks that “things are achieved with work, dedication and planning, laying the foundations for the future, and we are on that path.”
